Oh You Mean This Gate Key

Drek and I spent Friday night babysitting a passel of children at a friend's house. Among them was our niece, who is almost four. A few days before she had locked herself in the bathroom. Friday night she locked herself in the same bathroom again.

I was very worried and tried to calm her down by sweet talking her to open the door; "It's okay, honey. I'm right here. You need to unlock the door, okay? That way we can get you out and you can come out and we can play a game! Do you want to play a game with me? Great! I want to play a game with you! Just come over to the door. See the handle? Can you turn the knob on the handle? I know you can do it!"

She informed me she couldn't get to the door because there was a spider on the stool. "Do you see a bath toy? Can you squish the tiny spider with a big bath toy?" But she informed she was afraid of spiders. Actually, at that point I was very impressed with her composure. If I was stuck in a small room with a spider, I would be in hysterics.

So I tried a different route. "Can you push the stool over by the bathtub? Great job! I knew you could do it! You are amazing! Now, come stand by the door! Are you by the door! Great! Now touch the handle! Don't worry, you are doing great! We'll get you out in just a little bit!" After about five minutes of sweet talking and gentle coaxing, we were no closer to getting her out. Drek walked over to the door and said in a stern/angry voice "If you don't unlock that door right now you'll be stuck in there forever."

Two seconds later I heard the door click and our niece walked out.

'Course, That Ain't Exactly Plan A.

I am very lucky that Drek's whole company moved here to Sunland the same time we did. I was a little afraid to move out here to Sunland because I wouldn't know anyone. I planned on spending a lot of time with Bonnies and Jord and Jes, but other than them I really didn't know what I was going to do.

One of Drek's co-workers live a few blocks away from us and his wife and I have become friends since we're in the same ward and are both new to the area. Her name is Jen. She is wonderful. She loves to plan activities for our kids, for just us girls, and for both our families. Anna moved here a few weeks after we did and it is wonderful to have her and her family here.

There are many parks here in Sunland. Jen and I started taking our kids around to a few different ones. While there, we made some new friends who are also SAHMs. Last night Jen planned an girls night out for us. It was so much fun! We ate bananas and strawberries dipped in chocolate, chips and guacamole and crackers and a yummy pesto sauce. We talked about things we wanted to do while we were in Sunland, and then Anna got out her buckets of craft stuff and showed us how to make these cute little fabric flower-hair-things. I made two for Ash and they turned out so cute! I'm very proud of my crafty self. A new friend from the parks came over and told us about all the great free and cheap stuff to do in the area for children. She's lived here for four years so she's like our guide.

As I drove home from our little party, I felt so energized. I loved having the girl's night out, but more than that, I had so much to look forward to! We have all these activities planned. Activities we can do on weekends and activities for the kids that we can do while the boys are working.

I love that I've not even been here two months and already have a little group to party with. Hooray!

You Have an Appealing Coiffure. What is Your Grooming Regimen? You're Asking Me What I do With My Hair?

I've been asked by several different people what to clarify the whole "giving up shampoo" thing. I decided to blog about it, since I don't really know I didn't just do that in the first place.

My routine for my hair was to wash it with Suave shampoo and conditioner once a day. Since my hair is long and thick, I went through those bottles really fast. I bought new bottles every one to two week. That worked for a few years, but last year I noticed my hair was damaged. VERY damaged. And I had flakes, split ends, and all around damaged hair. But why? I don’t blow-dry. I don’t use a curling iron or a straightener, I just shampoo, condition, dry with towel, spray in detangler, brush and go. Why was my hair so damaged?

So I tried using different products. The only one that seems to help the damage is Pureology, and those are insanely expensive. It would cost me around $50 a month just for shampoo and conditioner. And it wouldn’t solve my flake problem.
The product that works for my flake problem is the Neutrogena stuff that comes in a green bottle…I can’t remember what it’s called. It costs me about $20 a month. It does not solve my damage problem.

So I turned to the Internet. The Internet tells me my problem might lie within commercial hair products. Apparently, my hair has been stripped of all it needs to be healthy. That’s what commercial shampoo does. It’s a detergent and it strips your hair of what it needs. Conditioner is designed to put artificial good stuff back in your hair. It’s not as good as the original good stuff so you have to wash your hair more often, and therefore strip your hair more often, and in some cases your hair just ends up stripped-out. I think this is what happened to my hair. Not only that, but after reading more, I discovered that some of the chemicals in your shampoo are really toxic! Every time you shower, you are poisoning yourself. All the products I was using was cruelly and pointlessly tested on animals, and every time I bough new bottles I was contributing to the landfills.

So! I made my own shampoo. I looked at several recipes and came up with my own. I was warned that there was a fourteen to thirty day "transitions" in which your hair is all oily and gross, because it needs to learn to regulate itself, but then it's all better.

I didn't really like making my own shampoo. It was fun to make, but when I washed my hair is was a mess and horrible to brush and felt oily and blec. The best way to describe my hair during that time is flat. No volume, no nothing, just flat. It looked like I had gone a day or two without washing it (I was pregnant at the time so I just used that as an excuse).

After thirty days of that I came across the concept of "no poo" which is where you use baking soda as shampoo and vinegar and conditioner. Again, I was warned there is a fourteen to thirty day "transition" where you hair must adjust to regulating its own oils. However, the very first time I did it, My hair was AWESOME! I attribute that to the fact that I had already gone through transition and my hair was already used to regulating its own oils.

It's so easy. Baking soda + water = shampoo and Apple Cider Vinegar + water = conditioner.

I take about 1 tbsp (but really, I just eyeball it. I'm not going to stand in the shower with a measuring spoon)  of baking soda and mix it with one cup water. You can put that into a spray bottle or in a cup, whatever works for you. When I take a shower I wet my hair, then either spray or dump the stuff onto my scalp and massage it into my roots. I really don't worry about the rest of my hair. After a lot of massaging I rinse it out and then use conditioner;

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar and 2 cups water in a cup. Mix and dump over your hair. I've had a few people telll me they skipped the Apple Cider Vinegar step because they don't like the small. DO NOT skip this step. It's like shampooing your hair and not conditioning it; your hair will be tangled and yucky. If you don't like the small you can add a tsp of honey and vanilla.

The conditioner also works as a detangler to my hair is like silk when I try to comb it. I keep my hair long and it is full, shiny, clean and healthy. It always looks like I just washed it, even though I only wash it maybe twice a week, sometimes only once a week.

My hair is A LOT healthier. A LOT. I love it. No split ends, no damage, no flakes. It grows faster (because of all the massaging) and it looks and feels great.

And now you know. It worked for me, it was the best choice for me, but I can't say it will work for you. This is just my experience.

A Way Of Life That Hasn't Changed For Years? Why Should It? Species That Don't Change Die

August is always a fun month for me. I like to think of August as a sort of New Year, but in reverse. For my New Year resolutions I like to make goals so I can improve and expand. In August I like to make a goal giving up something. I have a record of permanently giving something up in August.

Seven years ago, in August, I gave up meat. Seven years ago I sat in Sizzler, eating a steak and I thought to myself "This will be the last meat I ever eat." And it was.

Five years ago I gave up a another habit that I will not detail. Five years! That's a long time!

Last year I gave up Shampoo. My hair has not touched shampoo or conditioner for an entire year. I use baking soda for shampoo and apple cider vinegar, honey and vanilla for conditioner. It works great, I don't have to deal with all those chemicals, I know my products aren't tested on animals and I've saved an estimated $51.49, and that's only if I bought the $0.99 stuff. Last July I was spending $24 for a small bottle of shampoo and conditioner.

This year I think I will give up High Fructose Corn Syrup and Red Dye 40. Both these things will kill you. In the process of making these chemicals...well, bad things happen. Red Dye 40 is a form of petroleum which we need to stop using and HFCS comes from number two corn, which is a MAJOR problem for everyone; the farmers who grow it, the environment, and our health. Not to mention Red Dye 40 is already banned in Europe because is causes major temporary and permanent behavioral problems in children. I'm giving them up with hopes that everyone gives them up and they stop making them. Thus, saving the world.

Most my goals stem from saving the world. If everyone gave up meat, slaughterhouses would cease to exist and the world would be saved (from toxic waste, animal cruelty, antibiotic-resistant germs, carbon emissions and wasting out food on stock instead of ending world hunger) If everyone gave up shampoo, well, the world would be slightly improved (by stopping animal testing, the production of lots of little plastic bottles and keeping those toxic chemicals out of our water system). Mostly I did it to save my hair and a lot of money.

Wherever We Want To Go, We'll Go...What a Ship Is...What the Black Pearl Really Is...Is Freedom

I am not an impulsive spender. I hate spending money. If it's junk and free, I will take it in a second, but if it has value and costs money, I'll think about it, research it, decide if I can live without it, and then, more often than not, save my money.

As you can imagine, this is a great way to miss good sales. If I ever decide it is worth the money and I can't live without it, the sale is over. Alas, by this time I've done so much research that I've decided I REALLY NEED this product, so I end up paying the higher price. I hate when that happens. That happened with high chairs just last week. I ended up paying $18 instead of $9.99. Nothing gets under my skin like that.

Anyway, a few days ago I became aware of Jet Blue's second ever "All You Can Jet" special, which meant for $500 you could buy a golden ticket to fly anywhere, anytime, on a Jet Blue jet in the month of September.

As soon as I heard about this, it dominated my thoughts. Every few seconds I would think about it again, asking myself: "Can I do this? Is it worth the money? Do I have the time? Is it worth the effort?"

I talked to Drek; he told me to go for it. My goodness, I love that man. But just because he likes to spoil me, doesn't mean we could afford it, we are trying to save up for a house, after all. So I thought about it some more. After much consideration, I talked to a friend, who told me is probably wasn't worth taking a one-year-old on an airplane over and over again. I thought about this, and decided that actually, Ash loved the airplane, and everyone on the airplane loved her. We would be traveling a lot, but with her on my lap, with me giving her all my attention. Actually, I thought, this would be a great experience for both of us.

I decided to do it. I got online, got to the part where I have to pay for it and called my mother to tell her to cancel her trip out here because I was coming to her.

She brought up a good point; if I came to her, Drek wouldn't be there for Ash's first birthday. Oh. Right. Huh.

So I logged off, slept on it, and thought about it all day the next day. I decided that I would just be home for that week, which would take a week out of traveling. Was it worth it then? I called Krisling and told her if she did it, I would do it, hoping she would say yes and in a burst of impulsiveness we would both take the risk and just spend the money. Alas, she gave the appropriate grown-up responsible answer; "I want to, but I have to make sure I can."

So I waited, wondering once again, if I could. And then, I decided: YES! I CAN! I WILL! I found my credit card, logged on and...

They are sold out. Three days after the sale stared, they are all gone.

Curse me and my stupid, overly-cautious, frugal self. Even if they have the sale next year, Ash will be too old to get on the plane for free. I have missed out on this once-in-a-lifetime adventure.

Lesson learned; Be more impulsive.

He Represents Everything I Hate In LIfe. I Hate Him, I Always Have Hated Him, I Always Will Hate Him. I Hate Happy The Clam

In preparation for the second ever Laundry party, I looked up a recipe I posted on my blog a while ago for Thai kabobs. In searching, I discovered a few things;

1) Google's Search-Website program does not work
2) I need to organize my blog a lot better. I created it before tags and once tags were available I didn't use them because I never had used them, but something needs to change.
3) My blog used to be about crazy adventures, parties, and wild antics. Now it's about laundry parties.

This last part really hit me. My life is so boring. What do I have to look forward to? Nothing. What do I have to write about? Also nothing. What is this post about? Nothing.

Let's Just Go Straight to Exhibit F - the Kidnapper's Vehicle Was Seen Fleeing in This Direction. Hey, How do you Spell F-B-I?

Drek on and I got out our new driver's licences in the mail yesterday. I have to admit, I really didn't think they would ever arrive. I was sure there would be another computer failure. Seriously, three trips to the DMV to get a driver's licence? And every time we went a different computer system was down statewide? That has to be some sort of record. Still no car title, though. I am less than hopeful on that front.

Yesterday we decided to celebrate our new driver's licences by driving up to the the big city. Drek's parents had flown in to attend a few classes and were leaving today, so we drove the two hours up there to have dinner with them. Actually, it wasn't to celebrate the driver's licences. It was to to give them Jo so they could take him back to Hometown so he could see his parents. After having him for two months and two days, I was sent a mass email last week that in a single sentence announced Drek's parent's would pick him up and take him back to hometown. That was it. I have no idea when, if ever, we'll get him back. And that was that. I am not happy about giving him up. There was serious thought given to driving to Mexico instead, where we could buy a house and live happily ever after as fugitive kidnappers. Drek said no.

Drek's parent's got us a hotel for the night. The two babies and Drek and I stayed up until midnight, watching TV and cuddling. The babies slept great that night. We had a delicious breakfast in the morning and then Drek's parents took Jo to the airport. I bought chocolate to drown my sorrows. It's not working.

If You Don't Like Something, Change It. If You Can't Change It, Change Your Attitude

I tried doing laundry in my bathtub. As predicted, the washing went well but the drying did not go so well. Everything I drip-dried had a sour smell, like old rags. Blec. After two weeks of only doing laundry in the tub I decided to try a new approach.

And that new approach is: Laundry party!

In our apartment complex, the laundry room is right next to the pool area. The pool area has a pool, a hot-tub, tables, chairs, counters, and two gas barbecues. Once a week we will have a laundry party, which means that once Drek gets home from work we will all go do laundry and while we are waiting for it to finish we will go to the pool area and cook dinner on the gas barbecues, eat dinner on the tables, and then swim and lounge. Not only will this get the laundry done effectively, but it will give us a chance to use the pool, get out of the house to enjoy this awesome weather, and to have one meal a week that is completely barbecued! Sounds good to me!

Of course, we still have to pay for laundry, which really irks me, but it's better than any alternative I can concoct. Besides, doing laundry in a laundry room has three advantages;

One, you can do all your laundry at once: You plop your basket down and sort the clothes right into the machines; this machine is for whites, this machine is for towels...and all the washing is done in thirty minutes. It's great.

Two, I'm not paying for the water.

Three, you get to meet a lot of other people, who so far have all been really nice.

We had our very first laundry party yesterday. it went great. We had grilled pineapple, grilled corn-on-the-cob, and little mini pizzas that were made out of sourdough English muffins, and do-it-yourself toppings, grilled on the top rack of the barbecue. It was delicious! Especially the pineapple, I could have grilled pineapple everyday.

I think next week we will have grilled pineapple and kabobs. Hooray!

I Could No Sooner Choose a Favorite Star in the Heavens

Libraries, oh how I love you.

So, I admit, I cheated, just a little. When we moved to SunLand I couldn't send myself a postcard because we had no address since we didn't know where we were going to live. For that same reason, we forwarded our mail to Drek's work address. When we finally found an apartment and got an address, it was in the city next to the city where Drek works.

I wanted to go to the library, but I didn't have any mail with my name on it addressed to our apartment. I did have mail with my name on it addressed to Drek's work. So I went to that city's library and got a library card. Right away, I was VERY impressed with that library: The children's section was huge, they had hundreds of Spanish books, hundreds of books on CD, and the librarians were all really helpful and oohed and awed over my two babies.

A few days ago I FINALLY got mail with my name on it addressed to our apartment, so I went in to our city's library and got a card. Right away I was very un-impressed. It was small, the catalog was very messed up (The book The Help was too difficult for it to find because it had the word "the" in it. Sad) and the librarians were very grumpy. So grumpy, I would dare to call them mean.

When I got home, I looked up our city's online website and found a few reviews. Every single review mentions how not un-helpful, snappy, or rude the librarians are. Wow. Talk about a customer service problem.

But then I looked up the other Library and found that it has a wonderful catalog. I input my "to-read" list and out of twenty nine books, this library has all but two. That is amazing. I am in love with this library. And since it's only a few blocks away from Drek's work, I think I will visit it often. In fact, I think I will go there today, since four of the books I put on hold are already available for me to pick up.

How Was It Possible That Men Did Not See Whither They Were Going, and Went On, in Blindness and Cowardice, to Their Fate

Day One

We wake early, wake the babies and hurriedly get dressed. We made sure all our papers are in order before setting off on our journey. We find the building and arrive ten minutes before it openes. To our astonishment, dozens of others are already waiting. Others like us, with dreams and a very short amount of time to make those dream come true. The line of people is so long it wraps around the building. We sigh and take the babies out of the car to stand in line; still tired from a restless night cut too short. After ten minutes the line slowly begins to move: the building has opened! We smile and make a few jokes. The line stops moving, then moves, then stops. Fifteen minutes later we are still outside in the gray morning air; we haven't even turned the first corner. A uniform comes out and demands attention: The building's computer are down. The problem is statewide. We all have to leave. A few people leave, most wait around, waiting for more news. There is no more news to give. After a short discussion we turn our backs on our dreams and pack the babies back in the car. Our dreams will have to wait until tomorrow.

Day Two

The next morning our alarm blares even earlier than the day before. Drearily we wake the babies and pack into the car. There isn't time to eat anything; we want to make it to the building before the line forms. We arrive thirty minutes before the building opens, but we are not the only ones came so early; the line is shorter than the day before, but not by much, and more people arrive every minute. We stand in line again, trying not to fall asleep, wishing that a breakfast shop would open up next door to feed all the hungry people. The babies are angry; they want to get down and play, but there is no playground, no grass, only cold, hard cement and a few clumps of dirt mixed with cigarette butts. I stake my place in line then leave to follow the people to the front of the building. Uniforms are pushing a cart filled with papers and pens. They ask the people in line to fill out the forms so once the building opens the process can speed along. I go back to my place in line and wait. Thirty minutes later the building opens. Once again I leave my place to make sure the computers are working. The uniform I ask tells me that so far the computers are up, and they have not crashed...yet. We wait in line. We wait and wait and wait. Finally we are inside the building. Aghast we look around; the line inside is just as long as the line outside. It curves and winds around ropes. Still, we are inside. The line is moving. We are hopeful enough to give each other weak smiles, afraid that anything more will somehow cause the computers to crash and out dreams to tumble down on our heads.

After a long time we make it to the front of the line. We explain that we want identification cards and papers for our vehicle. The uniform frowns and gives us a form to fill out. She tells us we can get the papers for our vehicle, but the computers for identification papers are down statewide and we'll have to come back a different day. We try to protest but she glares at us and points to another line. It's then we realize that the desk at the front of the line, the desk we waited over an hour to reach, the desk we are located, is simply the replacement of the cart; it gives you the form to fill out and tells you which line you need to stand in next. Wearily, we stand in the next line and wait.

Finally it's our turn. We show the proper papers, sign the proper forms and pay the proper amount. We wait in line to have our vehicle inspected, then wait in line to show that our vehicle is inspected. At long last it seems we are done. Our vehicle papers will arrive in the mail in a few weeks. We ask the clerk about papers for us, and she points us to another line, where we can make an appointment. We wait in line and miraculously, make an appointment to come back in a week to get our identification papers.

Day Three

A letter arrives in the mail. It does not contain our new vehicle papers, but a notice, saying there was a clerical error and we must pay an extra fee to get out vehicle papers. In order to pay the fee we must mail the form back along with the money. We do as we are instructed.

Day Four

It's the of day our appointment. Our appointment is in the afternoon. It interrupts nap schedules and work days, but we attend anyway. As we approach the building we see a sign on the front steps with a handwritten message proclaiming that the monetary machines are down statewide and only cash will be accepted. With heavy hearts we share sorrowful glances; we didn't bring enough cash. Still, we've come to far to be deterred. The line still overflows from the front doors and winds down the side of the building, but having an appointment means we skip the first line and go straight to the first desk, where we fill out a form and are told which line to wait in next. Instead of waiting, I leave the babies with him and run back outside, hop in the vehicle and drive to nearest store where I buy a candy bar and withdraw cash. I take the currency back to the building and discover that there is no room for my vehicle. I drive around for several minutes until I follow a person exiting the building back to their vehicle and occupy the same spot they vacate.

I rush inside and find that my number was called just minutes before. The forms are all filled out so I simply hand them to the uniform. We show the proper papers, sign the proper forms and pay the proper amount. We are directed to another line. We wait to get our picture taken, or signature scanned and out thumbprint immortalized in their network. We are then handed a test. It's no simple feat to juggle two babies while trying to concentrate on a test, but we manage somehow and stand in line to have our tests graded.

His process is simple; he passed the test and would have his identification papers mailed to him. I am not so lucky; I passed the test but long ago I lost my identification paper, thus why I wanted new ones so very much, but without them they could only treat me as a teenager. I need to make an appointment to take a driving test, pay a large fine and come back later. I refuse. I've come too far to leave now and I didn't withdraw enough cash to cover the large fine. The uniform gives me a number to call and tells me to step out of line. I do as I am told. I call, but the uniform on the other end of line is much worse than any uniform in the building; no faxing, no mailing, to emailing. I was instructed to obtain a form, fill it out, have it notorized, and mail it along with a substantial fee to another building and then wait for several months. This, too, is not an option. Defeated only for a moment, we walk back out to our vehicle. I look through my bags and search the vehicle until I find it; a copy of my very first identification paper. I return inside, wait in the line and present my find at the desk. The uniform nods; it will work. I sign more papers and the uniform informs me my identification papers will be mailed to me.

We will see.

Put Your Shoulder To The Wheel, Push Along. Do Your Duty With A Heart Full Of Song

When the missionaries came over for dinner last week they gave us short but sweet lesson on the importance of treating the book Preach My Gospel like scripture by studying it, pondering it etc. Ever since then y wonderful husband has gotten up early, taken the babies out to the living room and read PMG along with his scriptures. He even got out his old mission journal. Yesterday he got back from a priesthood meeting and said we need to be more diligent about family prayer and scripture study.

My husband is the best husband in the whole wide world. I'm so glad I have such an awesome husband who is so great about these kinds of things. I couldn't ask for a better husband or father of m y kids. He makes me strive to be a better person.

Well I Would't Want to Turn My Back on a Fellow Laundry, Um . . . Person. Well If We Can't Stick Together...

Tuesday marked one week since we moved into our new apartment. I can say we are officially moved in as of Tuesday. The pictures are on the walls, the furniture is arranged and we know where everything can be found (except the camera, which Drek packed in one of his bottomless boxes and I don't want to put in the effort to find) and life is more or less settling into a routine.

Today I'm doing the first deep-cleaning of the whole house. It won't take that long, the house is very small. Sadly, it's also missing washer and dryer hook-ups. When we signed the contract, I thought it would be fine and I could live with going to the laundry building to do laundry. Now, a week later, I remembered why we dropped everything to move out of our first teeny-tiny apartment and into a townhouse twenty minutes away, tripling our rent; so I could do laundry at home. Yeah, the triple rent was worth it. Why didn't I remember that BEFORE I signed the contract?

It kills me that we spent the time and money to buy a washer and dryer, that we've spent the time and effort to move that washer and dryer through three states, and that the washer and dryer are taking up valuable space in this teeny-tiny apartment, and yet, I am not using them, and that I can't use them for at least six months. Grr.

Oh, well. Life goes on and I suppose I could stand to learn a lesson on wearing the same thing over and over... and over again. The hard part is the babies. If they could get through a single night without leaking through their diaper, that would make things a lot easier.

At least I don't have to deal coins. This apartment complex gives everyone laundry cards. You load cash onto the card and then insert the card into the machine. It also makes it easier to know how much you've spent on laundry. For instance, I know that it one week I've spent exactly ten dollars and fifty cents in the machines, plus the cost of the soap. Although I suppose I'm not paying for the water of the electricity. Still, ten dollars?! That's a lot! Especially for someone who has never had to pay to do laundry before.

Yesterday we did laundry again. By "we" I mean me and the babies. Ash held the card to make herself useful. She a very helpful child. I ran out of money on the card so I picked through the laundry basket and only washed the most important stuff in one load. While we were waiting for the laundry to finish I took the babies swimming in the pool because it is right next to the laundry building. We had a great time. We played in the pool until Ash got too cold, then we sat in the sun until we warmed up, then we played in the pool again. To get the babies, the wet swim suits, the dirty laundry I couldn't do, and the clean laundry I did do, all back to the apartment, I had to make three trips, taking the babies with me each time. It was...exhausting.

There has to be a better way. I've heard of doing laundry in your own bathtub, anyone know how to do that? I already make my own laundry soap, can I make my own washer? I suppose that's not the hard part; the hard part would be drying the wet clothes. We have no yard, we're not allowed to hang laundry on our patio, and when I tried to dry the clothes in our front room it took two days because of the humidity, and that was after they had spent a cycle in the dryer. If they're dripping wet I can't have them over the carpet. Hmmm, this might take a little creativity.

What Are You Doing Here? You Invited Me. I Never Thought for a Second You'd Be Stupid Enough to Come! Well That Makes You a Tease

SunLand has the best weather, period. It is so great, it makes everything here awesome. Very awesome. The air smells...delicious. All the time. The flowers here make the air small amazing. I love breathing here. Is that weird?

I went running this morning in the amazing air. Hooray! I haven't been running in over a month. Eek. I'm back with zero lung capacity and all fat and no muscles. But today was amazing. I ran barefoot (for the first time since I was small), I ran in the most perfect weather, I ran through a park, I ran down a hill with the most amazing view and I loved every minute of it. I'm starting back at two miles, but by November I'll be up to twenty-six miles.

At the end of my run I was in my apartment complex's parking lot when two guys rushed across in front of me to their car. I stopped and went back.
"Are you missionaries?" I asked. They look surprised, but answered that they were. We chatted for a few seconds and I told them they should come over for dinner sometime since they live in the same complex. One of them perked up and said "Well, actually, we don't have a dinner planned for tonight, can we come at five?" So the missionaries are coming over for dinner! Here I am, first week living in the mission field and I will have already found and fed the missionaries! How great is that?!

We went to a grocery store last night. They sold avocados five for a dollar. I almost melted of sheer joy right then and there. The sad part was this morning when we went to the farmer's market and discovered that everything is more expensive than at the store. I'm very upset, but have some more ideas.

Drek found a frisbee golf course not far from our house. He's there right now. He's very happy.

Oh! and we won a raffle at our apartment's crime prevention social. We won fifty dollars of our next rent payment! Things are going very well. I'm excited to be here. We haven't been swimming yet, or to the beach, but we will. We have lots of time.

I Know The Road is Long, But Where You Are Is Home

Aaaaaaaaand we're here! Here in SunLand!

By the time Drek came home on Thursday I had packed most of the house up into out banana boxes. Halfway through packing I realized I needed easy access to all the already packed boxes, so I arranged them in easy-to-get-to rows. And then. . . well, I'm a nerd. Need I say more?

I built a fort. It rocked.

We loaded the truck on Friday (I loaded most of the boxes myself, mei-mei and her roommate and her friend came over to help load the rest of the boxes and the furniture. Toshi came to help with the last bit. It really didn't take very long), we drove to hometown on Saturday, drove to a casino with a rollercoaster on Sunday (it was a really, really, fun roller coaster) and we drove in to Sunland Monday morning. We spent the day frantically looking for an apartment, then found an apartment and spent the rest of the day frantically trying to get cash to buy a money order so we could pay our deposit. Blec.

We got a hotel for the night while the apartment finalizes our paperwork. We can move in about an hour. Hooray!! So, I think everything went fairly well. The babies survived, Acouchi survived (barely. She is so very angry) and the truck is not on fire. All that means success, right?

The apartment is nice, the area is really nice, and there is a park right next to the apartment. There are also a lot of stores close by so I hope I can get away with walking everywhere! We signed a lease for six months, so we have six months to buy a house!

The important thing is we're all together and alive, and still smiling.

Have You Gotten Anything New? Not Since Yesterday.

So, here in Burgville, we have one public Library. It is a small, pathetic little place that hardly deserves the title of Library, but it's all I've got. Boy am I looking forward to a system of Libraries when I get to SunLand.

But, if not for this Library, I would have missed out on my new favorite thing: Books on CD. I'd never tried them before. Why listen to a CD when you can read the actual book? But now that I've tried it, I love it, so thank you, Burgville, for introducing me to something new I intend to enjoy a lot more in the future.

Here's the story; I really wanted to read this book called Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen, by Christopher McDougall. It was on my to-read list, along with twenty other books. I looked through my Library's catalog to see which books from my list I could check out. Sadly, a pathetic four books from my list were owned by the Library. I know; sad. The Library didn't have the book of Born to Run, but it did have a book on CD version, so I decided to give it a chance.

And I'm hooked. I listen to it whenever I drive. It's like having Drek read to me every time I drive! I love it! I can also read a book during the same time period and not get confused at all. It doesn't take away from my reading time; it adds to it!

The book itself turned out to be amazing. I was actually breathless during different parts. In one section of the book it talks about barefoot running and how it's so much better for you than running with running shoes on. After listening to the book I have made my decision;

Barefoot marathon, here I come!

We're using a U-haul. Drek's Brother-in-law will drive it so Drek and I can be in the same car. We're leaving a few days earlier so we can take the drive in three shifts. I will pack the U-haul myself. I will not ask for help. I simply cannot do it this time. Besides, we have a whole day to pack the too-small-to-be-very-heavy banana boxes onto the truck so I can take my time. It will be great.

When I first moved to Burgville, I thought it would be clench-your-teeth-and-bear-it kind of thing. Burgville represented everything I hate: the cold, the gleeful killing of wolves, no recycling, and a horrible, passionate, love affair with those stupid nursing covers.

And yet, I love it here. I've loved from the beginning. I love the small town feel. I love that there just aren't enough traffic lights to delay you from your destination for more than a few minutes. I love that I can walk to the grocery store, the library, and the park. I love how friendly everyone is, how many runners live here, and that there are always lots of families at the park on a warm day. I love the fresh spring water that comes out of our tap. I love running along the beautiful rivers and seeing all the gorgeous colors. I love all the activities that this city sponsors, most of them in the park across the street. I love that I can get free books for Ash, fresh farm fruits and vegetables from the co-op and raw milk from that was milked from a cow a few hours earlier. I love saving all my burnables in boxes so I can take them out and burn them in a massive bonfire. I love my ward. I love my neighbors. I love the girls-night-out group, the LLL group, and the One Wonderful Wednesday group. I love learning Spanish from my wonderful Spanish teacher. I love going to the productions at the local university. I love that Drek loves his job and that Ash has so many kids to play with.

It's true that Governor is still an evil, horrible person who loves killing wolves and hates recycling, and that it's mostly always cold here, and that people are ridiculously obsessed with those stupid nursing covers, but mostly I can ignore all that still and focus on the great things about this place. I'm so glad we moved here. I'm so grateful for all the people here. I will be sorry to leave this place behind.

I better not see a single one of those stupid nursing covers in SunLand.

Drek's company just sent him an email saying the movers are no longer an option. That's right. we no longer have people or a truck to move us. The solution they proposed? U-haul. They're suggesting I drive two children sixteen hours in a car by myself, and Drek drive a U-Haul with Acouchi for, oh yeah, SIXTEEN HOURS!!!!! Um, it's less than two weeks and you're telling us NOW?? Hey, Drek's company, maybe you should pass these tidbits of info along, since apparently you've known for TWO MONTHS.

But that's not the problem. The problem is now I have to ask for help. I HATE that. I HATE trying to get people to help load the truck. hate Hate HATE!!! Why do I hate it? Because it never works!!! Two moves later, the Elder's Quorum/Home Teachers/Visiting Teachers of two different wards are USELESS. That's why the movers were such a great idea!! Why? Why won't the Elders quorum just show up when their supposed to, why?

So angry. Thinking of making Drek quit. I think we should open up an oragnic fruit orchard. That would be amazing.

You've Got to Find a Direction! You've... Oh, Er... By the By, Which Direction is This Castle of Yours? I Think North, the Other Way

And thus our brief but wonderful time living in Burgville is drawing to a close. We are moving in less than two weeks. Where are we moving? Yeah, we don't really know yet. Yikes.

In June we flew to SunLand to get the lay of land, look for apartments, meet with Realtors and maybe buy a house. We had a very busy, very great time, and even took Ash to see the ocean. While there, we visited a few apartments we will not be staying at and saw a lot of houses before we decided not to buy. Yeah, so the trip wasn't as productive as we had hoped, but now we can say we've actually been to the town we are going to live in for the next five plus years.

As soon as I got home, I searched the Internet for apartments to rent. The plan is to rent with a short lease so we can take our time buying a home. I've found a few places that look good, I've called them and talked to them, but now I have to make a decision and send the people money, which I am worried about doing because I have never seen these apartments so how do I know they are livable and how do I know it isn't a scam? Sigh.

When we moved to Burgville I had two weeks to pack. It was a frantic mess. This time I figured I would need two weeks, we saved all the boxes, a lot of stuff is still packed, and I have two babies instead of one (long story).

So I started packing on Monday. I packed a little more on Tuesday, and today I am looking around wondering what else to pack. I'm...done. I still have the kitchen and the bedroom, but those have to wait until a few days before. Everything else is packed. Wow. That was easy.

The best part is we have professional movers coming out, taking all the boxes and furniture out of each bedroom, loading it on the truck, driving the truck to our new place and unloading for us. It's the best way to move. I don't even have to move all the boxes to one room. We don't need to worry about renting a truck, asking people to help move boxes, or anything. The only thing we need to worry about is giving the movers an address to unload. Maybe I should get on that...

And You Are? Giselle. Oh, Giselle! We Shall be Married in the Morning!

Last Saturday Drek's cousin got married, we went to the reception and had a lot of fun. I walked up to the serving table and saw these little brown balls on the end of toothpicks.
"Oh! Brownie Balls!" I said and thought was a great and delicious idea it was. I went inside the house and took care or the two little babies. Drek went out to get a plate of food. He came back in with one of the brownie balls as wells as some fruit and other things. We sat next to each other and since I had my hands full, he fed me fruit (best husband ever). After the fruit was gone, he held up the brownie ball for me to eat. I went for it, he moved it back. I went for it again, he moved it back. I gave him a look. He smiled and held it out for me again. Right before I took a bite he said "So, I guess I should tell you that this isn't brownie, it's meat."

Ah. Dead-animal-carcass-on-a-stick is so much less fun than chocolate-on-a-stick. I'm glad Drek told me though, that was very nice of him. He's come along way from hiding bits of meat inside the macaroni noodles.

Yesterday Drek's other cousin got married. At her reception, there were harmless cream puffs.

Well My Days of Not Taking You Seriously are Certainly Coming to a Middle

I've been staying at my in-laws house since my race. My little niece and nephew are here and need some love and attention so I've been taking care of three babies under two. It's an adventure.

My nephew is six months, my baby turned nine months today. They look nothing alike. Ash is taller, Jo has more hair. Ash has blue eyes, Jo has HUGE brown eyes. Ash looks like a little porcelain doll, Jo looks like an old man. Ash is all cheeks and lips, Jo is all eyes and forehead. Ash has two teeth, Jo is toothless. And also Ash is pale and Jo is black. Like, Ash is white and Jo is African American. The two may be cousins, but you can't find any similarities.

I mention this because today I was carrying one in each arm when we walked into a restaurant. The girl behind the counter smiled at the babies (they are adorable. I love having my arms full of cute) and says

"Oh! Are they twins?"

I didn't really know what to say. I just stood there, thinking if that was even possible. I think it is.

victory, Victory, VICTORY!

Saturday was the big day; my first half marathon race!!

Drek took Ash over to his parent's house for the night and I stayed at my parent's house so I could get some sleep and so I wouldn't wake them up in the morning.

I woke up at three thirty in the morning (So early)! My dad and my sister and I were all signed up to run, and my mom was wonderful enough to drive us do support throughout the race. When we signed up to run, our goal was to finish in under four hours. After we ran out fourteen miles two weeks ago, we decided we could finish in under three hours if we pushed it,so that was our new goal; finish our first half marathon in under three hours.

My mom and dad and I drove over to pick up my sister, then we headed up the canyon to the starting line.

So the race finally started at (ten minutes late) and we were off! I'm so grateful to my sister, who was so good at keeping the pace. For the first six miles I was so excited and so high on adrenaline I kept wanting to run faster. If it weren't for my sister, I would have taken off and wouldn't have been able to finish.

We reached the halfway point before we knew and we were making really good time. All of us were feeling great so we added a short sprint at the end of every run/walk cycle. Right after we passed mile seven we had a wonderful surprise; my mom and my sister's family were on the sidelines to cheer us on! A few blocks later, my nieces waited to cheer for us! a few blocks after that my wonderful husband stood with our baby! It was so wonderful to see them cheering for us! I have the best husband ever.

They showed up a few more times throughout the race! My mom was at different spots the whole way to offer us water or juice or towels (it was raining) of take whatever we didn't want to carry. At one point Toshi even showed up! All of it was so appreciated. We couldn't have finished without you!

Mile nine is where I started feeling tired, but it wasn't anything new and I knew I could keep going. The surprise came during the last mile, when for some reason my throat closed up and I had a really hard time breathing. That's never happened before, I still don't know what happened. I ran through it and was fine a few minutes later.

Then came the finish line! When we came around the curve, dad was ahead of both me and my sister, so we decided to sprint to catch up to him, and then sprint to the finish line. When we passed him he decided to sprint too. We rounded the final curve, where all the stands were set up and everyone was cheering, so I decided to give it all I had. I took off and flew down the last part. I passed two runners, and the realized my dad was gaining on me! I ran faster, he ran faster, I ran faster and we crossed the finish line at the exact same time! I crossed so fast they didn't have time to call my name!

Right away they cut off my timing chip and hung a medal around my neck. A Medal! And that was it, I had just finished a half marathon! The best part; we finished well under three hours. I finished in 2:51:48.7, point four seconds behind my dad. That put me in in place 473, out of 1,000 half marathon runners. I was 99th for my age group. I was doing one mile every 13:06 minutes.

At then end my family and Drek's family was there, as well as my sister's family. It was so wonderful to have to much support! I really, really appreciate everything my husband did to help me with all my training and this race, and I really, really appreciate everything my mom did. And, of course, I am so grateful to my sister and my dad: You guys are amazing!

Now on to a marathon!

He Was So Deadly, In Fact, That His Enemies Would Go Blind From Over-Exposure to Pure Awesomeness!

My husband is very wise. I'm so grateful for his unyielding logic, even if I don't always agree with it.

In other news, a week and a half ago I ran the fourteen miles with my dad and my sister. I love running with someone, it's so much better than running alone, and they are the best running buddies ever! The great news is that at the end, I was fine. It was a hard run, but I could have done more. I think I pushed myself to hard on the Thursday before I ran my twelve and half miles and didn't give my muscles time to recover. Lesson learned! I'm so excited for Saturday (the actual race day) I know we will be great and that we will finish and that we will finish in under three hours!

You're Living in the Past. This is the 14th Century!

Saturday was wonderful. Toshi planned a semi-spontaneous trip to Yellowstone! We made a day trip out of it and had a wonderful time.

Have you ever eaten lunch with an elk? I have. We drove around looking for a place to eat, when we spotted three elk hanging out with a lunch crowd. There were about four picnic tables in this little area and three of them were filled with people, watching the elk eat their lunch.



We ate at that picnic table. We were about four feet away from that elk

They enjoyed their lunch conversations and we enjoyed ours.

They ate their food and we ate our picnic food.

So great.

.

Put The Lime In The Coconut

I get our produce from a food co-op. I love it. Fresh farm produce for cheap makes me happy. I can't choose what produce I get, it's just a random box full of fruits and vegetables that I may or may not know how to use.

Last week I got a coconut. A real, actual coconut with the husk and everything. I just spent the last twenty minutes trying to get to the edible parts. What does one do with a coconut? I hammered a few holes in it to drain the water (yum!) and while I was holding it over the bowl, I dropped it, resulting in coconut water splashing all over my shirt, hair and face. I hear coconut is a great conditioner.

So the water was all out, but then what? In LOST, they open coconuts by sticking them on a sharp bamboo shoot and hammering them with a rock. I didn't know where to find bamboo, and couldn't think of a good substitute, so I took it outside, set it on the cement, and hit it with a hammer.

I didn't think it would work, but it actually worked great. Who knew? I am now munching on coconut meat and sipping on coconut water. I am also drenched in the stuff. Maybe I should go change.

That's True Dude, He's Worse Than Yoda.

WARNING, HUGE SPOILER ALERT. DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED THE SERIES OF FINALE OF LOST

Dear Damon and Carlton, (Because I'm sure you are avid readers of my blog)

Thank you so much for your talent and skill. I loved every second of your show. I also loved the last episode. It was well done, beautiful, heart-warming, tragic, and surprising. In a word; perfect.

Thank you for going through the effort to bring all the same actors back. It was awesome seeing Shannon and A.L. and Juliet, and of course, Charlie. Thank you for wrapping thing up with Libby, even though you never explained her back story. The only question I am left with is this;

You made the ending both very specific and very vague, to give closure to people but leave it open to their own beliefs. That being said, do you realize you made it very Mormon? Really. Everyone waiting together in either the church (if you were good) or whispering on the island (if you were bad) to go to the next place. Ben going where he felt comfortable, which was not with everyone else. People still having children and getting to raise them from the beginning. Couples are still married, families are still in-tact, relationships are still real. You mixed up a bunch of different concepts, but they are still there.

So, thank you. It was better than I hoped it would be.

And PS: Don't think I didn't notice Michael Giacchino holding a banjo. Very clever.

Also, "How're" is not a word. Yeash who does your editing?

And thus starts my new policy. Drek and I watch an awful lot of shows for not having television. We watch everything on Hulu via laptop, and follow quite a number of shows. However, with the finale of LOST, we are starting a "no Hulu" policy. Because really, how can you top that? We might pick up Castle when it comes back in the fall (because Nathan Fillion is my Felix Calahan) but other than that, I am feeling pretty good about leaving all my shows where they stand.

Of course, the new policy would be easier if my Library wasn't closed for another month (Worst. Library. Ever.) but I suppose I will just have to edit my novel until I can start reading again. It all works out.

Dude, You've got some...Arst on you

Baby asleep; Check

Cell phones turned off; Check

Successfully avoided all spoilers; Check

Snuggled into bed next to husband; Check

Cup of fresh, whole milk; Check

Massive amounts of chocolate; Check

Marathon of recent episodes; Check

Checklist done; Check

I am now ready for the series finale of LOST.

I finished.

I wrote an entire novel.

Huh.

I thought I'd be more excited. Maybe it's because the ending is so very very bad. I spent the whole novel trying to come up with a good ending; hoping it would write itself. It did not.

Really, if I change the ending to "and then they all died" it would improve the ending.

Sigh.

No Song Unsung No Wine Untasted

Drek and I went on a date night! We went to the University's production of Broadway Review, where a bunch of the students sing show tunes.

We enjoyed this semesters production more than last semester's. Last time all the songs were...obscure. Drek and I hadn't heard of most the musicals, much less the songs. There were a few good performances but mostly the singing was so-so.

This time around, the singing was amazing. Only the first girl was less than phenomenal. And the songs? They were from Wicked, Jekyll and Hyde, East of Eden... all the good stuff. It was great.

The best part was when this guy came on stage to sing Empty Chairs at Empty Tables and I thought to myself; "Wow. I can really picture that guy as Marius. Wait a second...."

After the show I found the guy and asked if he'd ever been in a high school production of Les Mis back in my hometown. He said yes. I asked him if he performed at this theatre and played Marius. He said yes. Wow. Drek and I watched that show when we first starting dating. Weird.

No, It Means I Was Drunk Yesterday

Acouchi is a bit too fond of the bottle.

And no, actually; I didn't set this up. She was like this so I snapped a picture. :)

You Have Been Called Forth to the Summit of Mt. Wannahockaloogie to Join With Us in the Fraternal Bonds of Tankhood!

I made myself a to-do list of things to do in this area while I am still living in this State. A "Bucket List" if you will. It includes restaurants in which to dine, caves to explore, lakes to swim, and even a volcano to climb.

The waterfalls and two caves were on that list. I am way ahead of schedule.

Monday night we climbed the volcano. I have never climbed a volcano before!

It was a beautiful day for a hike;

And we passed and Elk farm;

Some of the sights on the hike;










The view from the top;

We're About to Go Over a Huge Waterfall. Yep. Sharp Rocks at the Bottom? Most Likely. Bring It On

On Saturdays I do my long runs. Drek drives me however many miles I am training away from the house and I have to run home. He drops me off in the middle of Farmland on a very long and desolate road. He drives in the same direction every time so the only the beginning miles are new, I've run the rest before.

Yesterday I had to make two turns on my route; one at the very beginning, and one in the middle; a turn I've done several times before.

So I start running. Forty minutes in to my run my sister calls to tell me she just finished her long run. She made great time and did such a great job that I decided to pick up the pace just to match her.

An hour and a half in to my run I start to get worried; I am supposed to be at the bottom of the hill in thirty minutes, but I don't see the hill, or the road that leads to the hill, or the road that has the turn that leads to the road that leads to the hill.

Two hours into my run I panic. I am lost. I only had two turns and clearly, I missed one. It's not like it was a maze; the road is long and flat. And yet, I was most definitely lost. I call Drek, who drives around until he finds me. He picks me up and tells me I am only a mile passed my turn; I didn't think I was on the road with the turn, so I passed it up. I have no sense of direction without my mountains. None. Drek comments that I only missed fifty percent of my turns. He is clearly amused.

He drops me off a mile passed my turn in the right direction and I keep running. This was about where I really started to hurt. I'm glad my sister called at the beginning, otherwise I might not have finished. I just kept thinking about how she sounded; so proud and so not-dead. If she could survive the run, so could I.

So I finished! Twelve and a half miles in less than three hours (Almost twenty minutes slower than my amazing super-fit sister). Hooray!

Later that day we went on a trip to see some scenic falls. There is no story about this, only pictures;

I am Short, Fat, and Proud of That

Weight loss has always been elusive for me because I've always had a hard time losing weight. It seems no matter which crash diet I use, no matter which exercises routine I use, no matter how many goals I set or if I keep a food journal, it doesn't work. There have been two exceptions;

When I became a vegetarian, I lost ten pounds from September to April. Don't ask me how, I have no idea. I was obsessive about my weight in high school (because I was overweight and couldn't seem to lose anything despite my exercises routine every morning and my new-crash-diet-every-week diet) but finally got sick of it, stopped working out and the only thing I watched in my diet was that I didn't eat meat. I weighed myself in August, and the next time I got on the scale (in April) I was down ten pounds. I moved out and went to college in April, and in another six months had lost another ten pounds. Again, I don't know how. I wasn't trying, I just did.

When I got engaged I went on the Special K diet (my first crash diet since High School) and went to the gym as often as I could. I lost a half a pound a day. My wedding day was the skinniest I've ever weighed (since puberty) but I was still three pounds away from my goal weight. I went off the diet on out honey moon, and when we got back I was above where I had started.

When I was pregnant, I did my best to cut out all High Fructose Corn Syrup and Red Dye 40 from my diet. In September I started lactating, which is supposed to burn around five hundred calories a day. In January my wonderful sister and I started training for the half-marathon. In February I started eating small things every four hours to boost my metabolism. I also started to weigh myself once a week. In March I decided our food bill was outrageous and vowed to make everything from scratch; I make my own bread, tortillas, and sauce. I am trying to never buy anything from a can ever again.

Nothing drastic, nothing difficult. But, there have been amazing results.

In March when we signed up for the half-marathon, I qualified for the "Athena category". That basically means overweight women. I didn't sign up for that category only because my sister said she didn't. I really didn't think I could lose any weight.

And then, finally, I was down to my Pre-Pregnancy weight. A week later, I was officially out of the "overweight" range for my height and body type. A week later I lost another pound. I was/am ecstatic. I began to think I could actually set some goes and reach them. I gave myself some incentives and two weeks later I was ten pounds under the "Athena Category."

My reward was to buy exercises cloths. I shop at DI (I may be losing weight but I'm still not making money) at I found myself these awesome like-new pants and T shirt for $6. I love them. They make feel skinny.

This week a friend and I are using a free seven day pass to a gym. We are going everyday and working out like crazy! This, on top of my running, I hope will result in my hitting my next weight goal where I get to go tanning.

After that, I'm just five pounds away from my wedding day weight and three new pairs of pants and three new shirts from DI (I really need them. I have two pairs of jeans and two pairs of khakis, none of which fit my anymore. The jeans I have had since high school. The khakis have paint on them. Actually, so do the jeans, but whatever. Can you tell I never go clothes shopping? About once every six months I will get a new shirt if it is on sale for less than $10, but I never buy pants).

After that I am three pounds away from my goal weight. I don't know what my reward is yet; I don't want to jinx it.

But the important thing is; I can do this! I can reach my goals! Hooray!

I Had a White Rat. That's No Mother!

My first Mother's day with a human baby. It was...like any other day, except I got chocolate at church. I am not complaining. Any day I get chocolate from anywhere is a really good day.

I am a little confused; is Mother's Day supposed to be where you work harder to be a mother, or where you take the day off from being a mother? Is it a day to showcase yourself as a mother; get up early to fix a healthy breakfast, dress your children up in their best cloths, do their hair with ribbons and bows, shine their shoes etc, or is it a day off; a day where you get to sit back and let your husband or your children do everything, or better yet, find a babysitter for the weekend? Is it a day where even the worst mothers hug their children, snap a few pictures, and tell them a story, or a day when even the best moms get to sit back and demand a foot rub?

At three o'clock Mother's Day morning Ash decided it was time to celebrate. She woke up and would not go back to sleep. I cuddled with her, I sang a few song, I fed her, but she was awake and determined to stay awake. At four I let Drek take over and went into the other room to sleep. Her being up all night meant her sleep schedule was off, she fell asleep thirty minutes before we were supposed to leave. When we were ready to go I didn't want to wake her up. She was a little naked baby except for her diaper, so I just picked her up in her bundle of blankets and took her to church after stuffing a dress into her diaper bag. Of course she woke up as soon as we walked in to the building.

So there I was; dressing my baby in the chapel at church. My mother skills will blind you with awesomeness.

Who Disturbs My Slumber

Today was our trip to the much anticipated Ice Caves. It was so much fun.

Drek stayed home with Ash, and Curtis stayed home with his baby, so it was just me, Anna, and cousins Ali and BJ. We got the directions out there, borrowed a jeep (for the 4-wheel drive) and we were off! We drove for about forty-five minutes, trying decide if the directions meant real cattle-guards or fake cattle guards and if cows are smart or dumb, but then we found the turn-off and started down a very bumpy dirt road. Three minutes later we come to a fork in the road. Oh noes! Do we go left, or right? Which one? So we called three different people, we text messaged, and we evaluated our choices. Twenty minutes later we still didn't have an answer so we guessed. A few feet later the two paths merged back into one. Wow.

But, we finally made it to the cave. Or rather, we made it to a hole in the ground, that looked like it might be the cave; I was suspicious. I went down the hole and yes, it does look like a cave, but it looks more like a slimy green den than an ice cave. Also there was a cow carcass rotting out in front. Gross.

So I gingerly went inside. Right in the entrance I found a plastic tube that said "Please help us keep the Ice Cave open by filling out this questionnaire!" Oh! What do you know? We ended up in the right place after all!

The cave was AMAZING!

It was a great cave; small spaces, large spaces, standing, crawling, climbing, it was great! It was also very, very beautiful. There was a lot of ice. A lot of ice. The floor was made of ice and a little bobsled rut had been melted in made it so you could just slide through most of it. So much fun! At the back of the cave (back meaning, you could not go farther, a great quality in a cave you feel more accomplished when you leave!) there was an ice slide. It was great.

Yes it was cold, but I was wearing three layers and thermals, so I was fine. However, if you feel so inclined to do the cave yourself, I would recommend gloves and waterproof pants. Wet jeans are no fun.

I Had to be Versed in All the Woodland Creatures

On Tuesday Toshi came over for dinner, so I decided it would be a good time to celebrate Cinco De Mayo. I made from-scratch tortillas and black bean refried beans. We had burritos and virgin Margaritas for dinner!

It was really good. The next day I tried cooking with something called Quinoa, which is very healthy. It is also shockingly easy and delicious!

Friday was our ward's Cinco De Mayo party. It was a lot of fun. Anna and Curtis came with us. I made little tiny Apple Empanandas (everyone brought food to share). Besides that I had a lot of chips and a lot of very yummy dip (Anna made something called Cowboy Caviar, which was I could eat all day). Besides that, there was a little station where you could make your own quesadillas! It was so fun!

There were several little pinatas stuffed with candy for the children, and one huge, homemade "deer" pinata for the adults. I didn't bring my camera, which is a shame because this deer was something to behold. It was made out of cardboard boxes duct taped together, covered in carpet (fur? I guess?) and then plastic wrap. It had four THICK cardboard tubes for legs, little paper ears and eyes, and even plastic antlers. It was life-size. It was AMAZING! It was also near-imposable to break open.

Drek held the rope for the first little while and many, many adult men took their turn being blindfolded and going at it. At first they used a broomstick, then a wooden baseball bat, then a full-on metal bat, it still took forever to break the thing. Drek did a great job with the rope; he made it high, then low, most of the time the deer was attacking the person rather then the other way around! Drek even got his turn at whacking the thing. By the end, a few women tried to break it open, it went through a lot of people!

Drek scored us some chocolate bars once it did break open (risking his life among the crazed children, seriously, those children were both rabid and blood-thirsty. And there were HORDES of them) and when we opened the wrapper the chocolate was all in tiny pieces! That candy took a real beating!

Also, as a side note; the legs were filled with beef jerky instead of candy. Giggle giggle.

You Like Me Because I'm a Scoundrel. There Aren't Enough Scoundrels in Your Life

My baby is a Jedi;

Duel lightsabor wielding baby says; Happy May the Fourth Be With You Day.

I Suppose the Life of an Anorexic Duck Doesn't Amount to Much in the Broad Scheme of Things.

Today is the first day of May. Guess what? It snowed.

Here was my morning;

I woke up (pump, of course) and got dressed to go running. Drek suggests we need more adventure and should explore one of the many caves in the area. We look up a few online and decide on a cave called the "Ice Cave." Doesn't that sound like so much fun? Anyway, as Drek calls Curtis and Anna, I change into cave-exploring clothes (thinking I will go running later that day). Before we leave, Drek does some more research and decides the Ice Cave might be a bad idea, because all the websites say four wheel drive is a must. Thus, we switch plans and decide to go to the Civil Defence Caves, thus named because the city thought it would be a good place for the entire city to live if the world was submerged in nuclear radiation.

And we're off to explore a cave. We got lost twice, but made it there in pretty good time. When we got to the entrance it was cold outside, so I bundled the baby up in a snow suit, thinking that once we got into the cave, it would warm up (after all, it was formed by lava, and you'd think if you're in a cave you're closer to the center of the earth, and this cave wasn't the Ice Cave, so this cave must be warm, right?)

The cave was a lot of fun.
The entrance was covered in rocks and boulders so climbing into the cave was actually the hardest part (keep in mind we have two infants and two children, it would have been a piece of cake by ourselves). The rest of the cave was mostly flat.

Inside the cave it was cold. VERY COLD. There is a lot of ice in the cave.

Drek took this picture. He thought the ice balls looked like ice slugs. I have to agree. Once we were deep inside the cave we played with glowsticks, had a small picnic, turned off all the lights and took a few pictures. Then we made our back to the entrance. The whole way I was secretly hoping it would magically be summer when we emerged. Alas, it was snowing.

Curses. The funny part was it was actually colder inside the cave than outside in the snow. Wow.

On the drive home I saw some sheep. I have seen sheep before, but I have never seen a whole herd of sheep before. I had to stop and take pictures!

There were two sheep dogs running around with them, they were the same dogs from Babe! I think they are Border Collies? It was pretty fun to watch.

It snowed for the rest of the day. Needless to say, I never went on my run.

I really don't think summer exists. I don't think it's possible for this city be above freezing for more than a few days. I have given up all hope.